Winter @ 66° South: The call up.

The 11th of March will remain a memorable day forever.
I was strolling along the dock on, in the early Saturday afternoon sunshine, seagulls squawking and threatening to explode my pounding head, a result of much red wine at the farewell party aboard the retired French icebreaker L'Astrolabe. Idly wandering about, I was happy enjoying a final lazy weekend before boarding the Aurora Australis bound for Macquarie Island, to work on my Drinking Water Quality Project for the Australian Antarctic Division.
Then came the call...
A Station Leader was required at short notice to overwinter at Casey Station. How short is short you ask? Be ready to fly Tuesday morning was the answer. My response was something like, "I will think it through and call you back", but I was already 50% in by the time I ended the call.
Weighing up my commitments, I couldn't see a good reason not to do it. I confirmed I was keen and was locked in by Saturday night.
The next 36 hours was a whirlwind. The team at the AAD all kicked into gear and I embarked upon a day of briefings, packing, scrambling, phone calls, handing over my Macquarie Island project, mixed with medical examinations, drug tests, blood tests, psychological assessments, and of course getting kitted out with my gear. Somewhere in there the flight got moved forward to Monday, taking another precious organisation day from me.
By Sunday night I was back at home and madly packing. A few clothes, camera gear, computers and some electronics, and my little guitar. Done!
Monday morning I booked a cab to go to Hobart airport to board the AAD A319 Snowbird1.
I would be flying down on the very last flight of the season to stay for winter. The next flight out is October.
Pulling the door closed behind me and seeing the taxi pull up in the street I was gripped with a reality check, and minor panic, of epic proportions... what just happened???? Oh yeah, I am going to spend the winter in Antarctica. With so little time, I'd only told my family and a few dear friends of my plans, but I had simply run out of time for any more phone calls.
Rather exhausted, overwhelmed, and frankly a little emotional, I cleared customs and boarded the flight. Just myself and two others on the flight, the three of us sat in the back row of the custom fitted out aircraft, heavy with fuel, for the take off. Flying out on a southerly course from Tasmania is a strange feeling. Commercial flights head north, as nothing lies south of Tasmania except the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
I sprawled out on the cabin floor, and fell asleep.
And I was on my way......